Hans Vogel

Who was Hans Vogel?

Hans Vogel was a German politician and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany along with Arthur Crispien and Otto Wels from 1931 to 1933. After the NSDAP came to power in 1933, he became one of the leaders of the social democratic exile organization Sopade.

After attending the Volkshochschule in Fürth, Vogel, the son of a merchant and shoemaker, completed an apprenticeship as a wood sculptor assistant in 1897. He joined the trade union for wood sculptors as early as 1897 and worked in various parts of Germany. He was board member of a Social Democratic electoral association in Fürth from 1907 to 1911. From 1908, Vogel worked as secretary of the party in the region of Franconia. From 1912 to 1918 he was a member of the Bavarian Landtag. He supported the Burgfrieden politics of his party, i.e. support for the German war effort and giving up the anti-militarist stance at the beginning of World War I, because he viewed this as his patriotic duty. He served in World War I as a radio operator in the 105th Division.

After the war and the German revolution, Vogel was a member of the German National Assembly, which wrote the Weimar Constitution.